A framer's opinion.

I just did a litte research down at my local picture framers. He has and enormous collection fo catalogues of available prints from all around the world. I asked him what Cezanne landscapes were avialable.

'Not a big call for Cezanne anything,' he grimaced as if I said something plesant about his mother-in-law, or had caught a stray wiff from the takeaway next door. We set about searching and finally found two, both in the same book.

'Awful, blocked in green things, aren't they," he commented with a sigh. "Anyone ever expressed an interest in the 'great impressionist master"', I asked.

"I have managed to sell prints of Wahol," he stated proudly," and even some Rothko, Picasso, and De Kooning. I have sold modern, post modern, and all sorts of rubbish. But I will state unhesitatingly, that for pure unsaleability, for superb overrated rubbish, for unpreceedented hype, in short, for a true genius for mediocrity - a Cezanne landacape stands alone".

"Have you seen my latest?" I asked. "Let me say when anyone mentions disasters I can speak with authority." He barely blinked at my interruption.

"Cezanne started in a rich tradition," he went on. "But with a toutch of pure genius, swept aside such obstacles with unerring precision, and out of order and beauty managed to produce complete blandness. We shall not, with luck, look upon his like again."

"What about his 'bathers'," I offered, "shows he could paint big?"

"I suppose he could paint big," he told me, stroking in his conceited way at his little black moustache. "But for superb incompetence and bad drawing you have mentioned his best."

"I expect you are not a fan of cubism then?" I said.

'I love cubism ... Im a framer arent I? I construct cubes all day!" I could sense it was time to leave .....